Adam Schiff gambled on elevating a Republican Dodgers legend to close out fellow Democrat Katie Porter in California's Senate race. It worked.

• Rep. Adam Schiff is projected to be the top Democrat in the running to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
• The real headline is that Schiff was able to use a shrewd strategy to close out other Democrats.
• As a result, Schiff's other opponent will be Dodgers legend Steve Garvey.  

Rep. Adam Schiff is projected to have easily won the top spot in California's Senate primary, positioning one of former President Donald Trump's biggest foes for the next chapter of his career.

NBC News projects Schiff to be the top Democrat coming out of Tuesday's California dual Senate primaries.

But it's not Schiff's win that's the real headline.

Schiff used his viral villainy on the right, including his GOP-led censure last summer, to build a staggering $32 million war chest that afforded him the luxury to spend millions boosting Dodgers legend Steve Garvey, a Republican who barely campaigned ahead of the contest. Schiff's strategy was to elevate Garvey as a Trump conservative in the overwhelmingly Democratic state, thus foreclosing fellow Rep. Katie Porter from making it to the general election.

His plan worked, with NBC also calling the race for Garvey over Porter. Under California's so-called "jungle primary" system, the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of their party. This can sometimes lead to Democrats effectively closing out a race, though Schiff's strategy was based on avoiding this.

Porter and her allies criticized Schiff's move, but as The Washington Post reported, their response also involved boosting yet another GOP hopeful in the contest to replace the vacancy left by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death. All of the candidates are running twice since there is a special election to fill out the remainder of Feinstein's term that ends in January, along with a separate primary to win a full term.

"Steve Garvey is never going to be California's next senator, and everyone knows it," Porter recently told The Post. "Representative Schiff is giving the GOP a gift, and Steve Garvey is the bow on top of the package."

Other Democrats aren't happy with Schiff's ploy either. A Republican has not won statewide office in California since 2006, making Garvey a major longshot. But his presence on the ballot could help boost California Republicans in key US House races, which could help the GOP retain control of the chamber given the razor-thin majority. Others, such as political commentator Ron Brownstein, have pointed out that by avoiding a costly intra-party fight, Democrats can avoid spending unnecessary money in California that they will need elsewhere to defend their thin Senate majority.

Schiff rose to national fame during the Trump administration as the top Democrat and later chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. After retaking the chamber, the Intelligence panel later took the lead role in Trump's first impeachment over withholding aid to Ukraine to pressure officials to investigate the Biden family. Trump lashed out at Schiff repeatedly, calling the Californian "shifty" and "pencil neck."

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who leaned on Schiff during the impeachment, endorsed his Senate campaign over Porter. Rep. Barbara Lee, a staunch House progressive, received former House Majority Whip James Clyburn's backing.

As for Garvey, the World Series champ and 10-time All-Star has been cagey about his views on some issues. In the final sprint of campaigning before Tuesday, the baseball star was absent from the campaign trail compared to his Democratic challengers.